Four episodes into the new season and the Ghost Hunters International team decided that when it comes to hunting Mayan spirits, there will be blood. If you missed the episode that has people talking, here is the rundown:

Location:
The Cahal Pech Mayan ruins in San Ignacio, BelizeHistory:
The ruins of this ancient Mayan temple date back to 1200BC. The Mayans would perform human sacrifices to appease the gods.Claims:
Many have reported hearing chanting, seeing shadows, and an apparition of a lady in white. The client also had a friend who seemed to become possessed, and began speaking in an unknown language (ancient Mayan)?Investigation:
Team leader Barry FitzGerald had the idea to perform an ancient Mayan bloodletting ritual in hopes that it would draw the spirits out. Co-lead Kris Williams was clearly opposed to the idea, but investigator Susan Slaughter jumped in to volunteer her blood to the Mayan spirits.
In the presence of Barry and the client, Susan cut herself enough to get some blood into an offering bowl. They then lit the incense and the blood on fire. As this ritual was being performed, Paul was on top of the temple pyramid, where the sacrifices would take place. He began to hear what sounded like voices and also thought he saw movement in the plaza below.

Joe Chin and Williams were investigating the grounds when they heard a rumbling sound. Williams said it kind of sounded like thunder, but seemed too low to the ground. Paul Bradford walkied in from the temple verifying he heard it too, but none of them could quite explain where it was coming from. Shortly after, Chin felt as if he was touched. Describing it as fingers running down his left side. Scott Tepperman also had an experience of the sensation of being touched, only his felt like scratches on his neck, but there was no evidence showing on his neck.

Slaughter's bloodletting ritual, courtesy Syfy

Later, FitzGerald and Williams were walking through the plaza when they thought they saw a shadow. They were also hearing sounds that they couldn’t chase down. Chin and Tepperman then took their turn there and had light sensors that would change color if the temperature changed. They tried to provoke the spirits to get a response. When Tepperman commented that the spirits were stupid, the lights began to flash on and off - which they say it has never done before.

After their session, Chin thought he saw a face of an old woman, but there was no one around. They then moved to the area known as "the point of no return." Chin thought he heard dragging sounds and a growl, wondering if anyone was near he walkied to FitzGerald. FitzGerald and Williams where doing an EVP session, and were standing in silence listening for any kind of response, when suddenly FitzGerald’s walkie goes off as Chin checked in - which gave him quite a jump and Williams a good laugh.Findings:
During the analysis, Susan discovered that the sound of the footsteps they were hearing were of an owl flying. The flapping of the wings sounded the same as the footsteps they were hearing. They did however capture a very clear EVP of a male’s voice saying, "Pedro not here." Pedro was the client who called GHI in to investigate.Best Moment:
While it is debatable whether this is a "best," The bloodletting ritual was definitely a first for GHI and caused quite a stir on social media during the episode.

On Twitter, Kris Williams called "f---ing stupdid," apologized to the fans and said "investigators should also take in consideration the kids at home watching." TAPS team leader Jason Hawes supported Williams on the matter and added that kids at home may "try what they see."

So, the question remains, will there be more fallout from the episode? Hawes is an important voice over at Syfy, after all. So if a lead investigator and the founder of TAPS and the Ghost Hunters franchise are both ticked off, will it prompt a response from the network? If enough people complain, is this the type of snafu that leads to someone getting fired? If so, who - a producer, investigator or leader?

Or is this just all-around good publicity for the show? What's your take?

13
comments:

Anonymous
said...

Barry is a great ghost hunter. If Jason and Kris have a problem with it, then thats only cuz they are fakes and are afraid of the truth. Spirits ARE out there, u just have to do things that are a little different sometimes.

I think it was fine besides its not a kid show & syfy has worse blood scenrs on monster show.. charmed show has blood loss all the time on their rituals & vanquishing... all just hype .. besides it was just a scratch im sure...

The issue that Kris and Jason have with it is the fact that Bloodletting bring demons into the mix. It's the same as messing with an ouija, which Jason stands firmly against. Ghost Hunters is about going in somewhere and proving nothing is there. But doing rituals that will bring demonic forces in it completely stupid. I stand behind Kris 100% for what she said. She was right.

If it was about Kris being afraid to attract demons with it... she herself said not to believe in evil. She also said ouija is just a boardgame. So that can't be it!

Futhermore, to call it bloodletting is stretching it. There was a little scratch and a few drops of blood. Nothing gruesome about that>

For those who really believe it can attract demons... there are ways to protect yourself and/or cleanse yourself afterwards.

I think Barry was right doing this. It was part of the history of the place. To attract activity, often it helps to recreate part(s) of that history. Nobody was forced into it, Susan volunteered, respect to her for that.

barry has been one of my least favorite investigators..since his time on GH,he ALWAYS hears,sees,senses "something" but hardly ever had evidence..until he hit the lax GHI procedures. They make claims and try to prove them true..and susan is a joke..cute, but cmon... Team Jason and Kris

Truly irresponsible considering how many people out there have secret cutting issues as well as those considering cutting and here you go and televise somebody cutting themselves regardless of demonic anything it's just a very bad image for any age. Get a clue Extreme Paranormal oh wait wrong show!

I say let them do what they like - something interesting - the show is falling fast - horrible numbers - something is better than nothing. Kris talks trash about everyone anyway - even said she had never read Jay and Grant's books - never will (per her tweet) - so what she says means nothing to me - she doesn't like anyone or anything.

It is irresponsible and stupid. There are hundreds of ghost groups that were born out of the Ghost Hunters craze and I'm sure most of them base a lot of what they do on those shows. People already toss reason aside when subscribing to this nonsense, now you introduce the idea of physical harm to this fiction? That's a recipe for disaster and Syfy and Ghost Hunters should be ashamed for feeding a gullible audience a dangerous idea.